This is a compact yet thorough retrospective of the films of Alice Guy Blaché (1873–1968), an essential if unsung figure of the early years of cinema—the first woman director and the first woman to establish and preside over her own film studio. Between 1896 and 1920, first in France and then in the United States, she wrote, directed, supervised, and/or produced more than 1,000 films, including full-length multireel features (some hand-tinted in color) and more than 100 films with synchronized sound, made some 20 years before sound revolutionized the motion picture industry. The book is illustrated with film stills and behind-the-scenes images throughout.